1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to electric watt-hour meters and sockets. More particularly, the present invention relates to an adapter for connecting a watt-hour meter and a watt-hour meter socket during partial electrical service failure to one of the line contacts of the watt-hour meter socket.
2. Background Information
Watt-hour meters are employed by electrical utility companies to measure and record energy consumption at residential and commercial building sites. A conventional watt-hour meter is removably engaged to a watt-hour meter socket, which is usually mounted to the side of the building site. The watt-hour meter socket contains two conductive line contacts, often referred to as terminals, which are connected to the incoming electric power line conductors extending from the utility power distribution source. The watt-hour meter socket also includes two load contacts which are connected to the electrical distribution wiring of the building site. Each load contact channels single phase service (e.g. 110 volts) to the electrical distribution network, and can also provide two phase service (e.g., 220 volts) required for certain heavy appliances, such as air conditioners and refrigerators.
The watt-hour meter generally contains five contacts for being engaged to five corresponding contacts of the watt-hour meter socket. The watt-hour meter includes two input contacts which are electrically connected to the line contacts of the socket, two output contacts which are electrically connected to the load jaw contacts of the socket, and a neutral contact which is electrically connected to a neutral contact of the socket. Once the watt-hour meter is connected to the meter socket, an electrical circuit is completed so that the electrical power from the line conductors can be transmitted to the load contacts for ultimately providing electricity to the building site. The watt-hour meter records the electrical consumption used by the building site.
Occasionally, service to one of the line contacts in the meter socket fails or is otherwise interrupted, thereby terminating electric service to one side of the watt-hour meter socket. However, service to the other line contact in the socket is still operable, and electrical service is provided to at least a portion of the building site. Because there may be delays associated with restoring full two-phase service, the electric utility company may provide full single phase service to the entire building site by installing a temporary jumper into the customer's circuit breaker panel or meter socket. Once the full dual phase electrical service is restored, the utility company thereafter removes the temporary jumper.
In the conventional method of installing a temporary jumper, the utility person first determines which phase is not providing electricity. Thereafter, the dead wire located in the breaker panel is physically disconnected and tape is attached to the exposed end of the wire. The wire is then bent away to avoid any obstruction. The exposed end of the wire is taped as a safety measure in the event that electrical service is restored. The jumper is then physically installed so as to provide single phase service (e.g., 110 volts) to the entire building site.
In addition, plug-in type adapters are available for use to provide single phase service to both load contacts of the meter socket. Such adapters are employed to connect the live incoming line contact to both of the two outgoing load contacts. However, because the live line contact is connected directly to the load contacts, the watt-hour meter is bypassed so that the measurement of energy consumption is not possible. Therefore, the utility company must rely on estimating energy consumption rather than obtaining an actual meter reading. Also, a number of adapters use fuses to connect the live line contact to the two load contacts, which results in more component parts and therefore greater cost. An example of such an adapter is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,337, entitled FUSED WATTHOUR METER BYPASS ADAPTER.
When there is a partial energy failure, the utility worker normally does not know which line conductor is dead until after testing the line contacts. Therefore, separate versions of the plug-in type adapters are required to correspond to where the live line contact is located. Thus, until now, a single adapter could not be easily and readily employed to provide full single phase service when service to either one of the line contacts fails.
Thus, a need exists for a watt-hour meter adapter that provides single phase service to two load contacts during failure of service to one of the line contacts. More specifically, there is a need for a single version of an adapter which can be easily and readily modified to provide the single phase service to both load contacts, irrespective of which line contact becomes dead. There is also a need for an adapter which can be used in conjunction with the watt-hour meter so that the meter can continue to measure electrical consumption during failure of service to one of the line contacts. The structure of the present invention contains a solution to the aforementioned problems. As defined below, the present invention provides a significant improvement over currently existing adapters, devices and methods used to provide single phase service during failure of service to one of the line contacts of the meter socket.